Dead Island 2started development in 2012 and was officially announced at E3 2014. Unfortunately,Dead Island 2has been trapped in development hell ever since, with the project being passed along to different developers and never seeming to gain any real traction. While publisher Deep Silver has assured fans thatDead Island 2is still in development, there hasn’t been much in the way of meaningful updates about the game’s progress. However, a recently discovered job listing posted by developer Dambuster Studios may provide some insight into the game’s future.
As spotted by MauroNL on Twitter,developer Dambuster Studiosis hiring a Senior Producer for a game that’s in development for next-gen consoles and PC. WhileDead Island 2is not specified as the game in question, the listing specifies the game as an “established AAA title.” Dambuster has no other projects currently announced that would fit that description, so the assumption has been that it is referring toDead Island 2.
RELATED:Dead Island 2 is Still in Development
Dead Island 2’s latest development restarthappened in 2019, so the latest version of the game has only been in development for a couple of years at best. It will likely need at least another year or more before it will be ready for release, at which point the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X consoles will be far better established. This very well could be why the apparent decision was made to ditch the PS4 and Xbox One versions ofDead Island 2to focus on next-gen versions instead, though fans should keep in mind that this has not been verified. It’s entirely possible thatDead Island 2is still in fact coming to PS4 and Xbox One despite what this job listing suggests.
Dead Island 2has been through the wringer since its reveal at E3 2014. The drama started when Yager was pulled offDead Island 2in 2015. Then in March 2016,Deep Silver hired Sumo Digital to work onDead Island 2. Sumo Digital has a solid track record of delivering high-quality game releases, having just launchedSackboy: A Big Adventurein 2020 as a PlayStation 5 launch title. Regardless, a few years later, it was confirmed thatSumo was taken off the projectand that’s when Dambuster Studios was given the reigns.
This potential switch to a next-gen only version ofDead Island 2could potentially mean good things for the project, assuming it’s true. For one, it would mean that the developers wouldn’t have to split their resources making two different versions of the game, and they can focus entirely on the next-gen experience. Secondly, this means thatDead Island 2wouldn’t be held back by dated hardware, potentially allowing Dambuster Studios to create a much more ambitious project.
Whenever fans get another look at the long-gestatingDead Island 2, it will be interesting to see how different it is from its initial reveal trailer. TheDead Island 2reveal trailerfeatured a goofy tone and a more comedic-leaning than the original game’s marketing, but it remains to be seen if the final product will stick with that style.
